The term “miracle on ice” is thrown around a bit too much these days,
especially with the USA making it to the gold medal game in this year’s
Olympics. This time, I think it’s warranted.

Not enough attention
is given to Paralympics, and sledge-hockey certainly doesn’t get the
attention it deserves. It may not be as fast-paced as ice hockey (how
could it be) but it’s certainly just as exciting. And now we have
another miraculous win on ice, as Japan took down Canada 3-1 to move on
to the gold medal game.

Yes, Japan.

“My head
went blank,” said [Japanese coach Kojin] Nakakita, when asked how he
felt
immediately after the game ended.

“I knew if we played
Canada 1,000 times we were going to lose 999 times. But not this one. We
had a huge loss against the U.S. [6-0 on Tuesday] but we came back very
strong.”

I’m sure Canada would have loved to take
home another gold medal on home ice, but how great is it that Japan is
the team that knocked them into the bronze medal game?
Unlike…some….I am all for the spread of hockey around the world and
the improvement of the sport in non-traditional markets and countries.
And it’s great to see a country like Japan, where hockey is trying hard
to catch on, be the team that is able to take that next step.